Study of Yersinia enterocolitica contamination in red meat supplied In Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Yersinia enterocolitica is one of the intestinal pathogens that are transferred to human through water and food, especially infected meat. Food contamination with this bacterium causes diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, appendicitis syndrome, like fever and septicemia. This study aimed study the red meat supplied in Shiraz for Yersinia enterocolitica contamination. In this study, 200 samples of meat supplied in Shiraz were prepared, and were classified based on packaging and non-packaging, storage method and retention time of cart and were investigated for Yersinia enterocolitica contamination. Samples were transferred to PBS enriched environment containing sorbitol sugar and bile salts. These samples were stored in a refrigerator at 4°C for three weeks and then cultured on selected culture medium of Yersinia enterocolitica. Then, microbiological and biochemical subtraction tests were performed on samples. According to study, 13% of the collect meat samples (26 samples) was infected with Yersinia enterocolitica. The results showed no significant difference in the frequency of contamination among different groups of the samples. The studies show that a significant amount of red meat can be contaminated with bacteria when meat foods are not heated enough during cooking, and subsequent storage in the refrigerator provides the opportunity to amplification of this bacterium. Moreover, due to the lack of apparent signs of spoilage, this bacterium causes gastroenteritis and other gastrointestinal complications in consumers.